WQ - Time To Relax

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I found a few minutes to do something relaxing, at least for me―participating in the Wednesday Quotes link-up hosted by Marsha at Always Write. That's the theme this week, so I thought a bit about what it means to relax.

Relaxing means different things to different people. I have quite a few friends who just love gardening. They enjoy planting seeds, tending seedlings and little plants, designing flowerbeds, digging in the dirt, even weeding! It involves labor, but they find it relaxing. 

I do not find gardening enjoyable at all! But I am all for relaxing on a porch or deck where I can see a pretty garden with birds at the feeders and maybe some butterflies and honeybees hovering. 

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time. ~John Lubbock

Like the gardening example, some forms of relaxing are hobbies or interests that we enjoy and that settle our minds and spirits somehow, even if our bodies are active. Things that take our minds off the things that cause stress or worry. Maybe fishing, maybe golf, maybe running. That makes NO sense to me! But walking. I could describe walking as an active kind of relaxing. Especially if I'm walking through a garden!

I think we mostly associate relaxing with vacationing, or with kicking back and unwinding after doing some hard work, whether mental or physical. After a stressful day at work, we just want to go home and relax. After a long week of the daily grind, we look forward to relaxing on the weekend. For some of us, being with family is relaxing, although for others it might be stressful. I love being with family so I'm one that would call that relaxing. Depending on what we're doing, I guess!

Together with a culture of work, there must be a culture of leisure as gratification. To put it another way: people who work must take the time to relax, to be with their families, to enjoy themselves, read, listen to music, play a sport. ~Pope Francis

Nothing is better than going home to family and eating good food and relaxing. ~Irina Shayk

And many of us associate relaxing with specific places where we feel peaceful and calm. Our comfy chair at home, our favorite spot on the porch, the pool, the beach, the mountains . . .

If you want to relax, watch the clouds pass by if you're laying on the grass, or sit in front of the creek; just doing nothing and having those still moments is what really rejuvenates the body. ~Miranda Kerr

I like to relax with a good book; relax in a nice bubble bath; or relax by lying down for awhile or staying in bed later than usual. 

We humans have lost the wisdom of genuinely resting and relaxing. We worry too much. We don't allow our bodies to heal, and we don't allow our minds and hearts to heal. ~Thich Nhat Hanh

Routines may include taking a warm bath or a relaxing walk in the evening, or practicing meditation/relaxation exercises. Psychologically, the completion of such a practice tells your mind and body that the day's work is over and you are free to relax and sleep. ~Andrew Weil

I think we often find it hard to relax unless we've completed the tasks we need to do, or at least made progress and worked towards fulfilling some purpose. That's kind of what I see in the Bible. The word 'relax' doesn't come up often, and depending on the translation, it looks like that English word was usually chosen to describe someone who was complacent and had let their guard down, perhaps even lazy. But there are a couple of places where it's used to describe resting and contemplating a finished work of some kind. Relaxing and enjoying the fruits of our labors is a gift from God. It's a little bit of shalom - completeness and peace - in our busy and broken world. 

What does a man acquire from all his labor and from the anxiety that accompanies his toil on earth? For all day long his work produces pain and frustration, and even at night his mind cannot relax! This also is futile!

There is nothing better for people than to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in their work. I also perceived that this ability to find enjoyment comes from God. For no one can eat and drink or experience joy apart from him.

~Ecclesiastes 2:22-25~

True relaxation is so much more satisfying than just being lazy! The benefit and blessing of being able to relax body and mind, knowing we've done our best and completed a mission is that peace and joy that the Teacher in Ecclesiastes talks about. 

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When the sun is shining, enjoy the sun; when the rain is raining, dance in the rain - you're going to get wet anyway. And if you slip and injure your back, at least you get some time to relax in hospital. ~Lou Sanders

What do you find relaxing? Leave a comment and let me know!

Wednesday Quotes is hosted by Marsha at Always Write. This post will be linked at #WQ #28: Relaxing/Color Challenge Blue

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